The present invention relates generally to the field of printing and more particularly to a system and method of effectively feeding media from input feeders of printing systems. For many printing systems, media on which printing is to occur is picked from an input feeder. Generally, a mechanism separates the sheet from a top of a stack of media such that it is fed into a marking engine of a printing system. On occasion there are failures in picking a sheet from a stack of media. Such failure would include a failure to pick the top sheet, a “no-pick,” or picking multiple sheets of media at once, a “multi-pick.” Both a no-pick and a multi-pick are undesired outcomes. In the case of a multi-pick, this can lead to physical media jams within the marking engine of a printing system and cause wasted media, while reducing throughput of the printing system. A no-pick results in no printing.
In some instances the condition of the media in the input feeder affects the ability of printing systems to minimize no-picks and multi-picks and related failures. Some printing systems have relied on the user of the system to ensure that the condition of the media is satisfactory for the printing system. Although such a system can prevent some paper jams, it is not effective, for example, when the user does not perceive a deficient condition in the media.
For these and other reasons, a need exists for the present invention.